Spatiotemporal Modeling of the Association between Neighborhood Factors and COVID-19 Incidence Rates in Scotland

This study aims to investigate the association between neighborhood-level factors and COVID-19 incidence in Scotland from a spatiotemporal perspective. The outcome variable is the COVID-19 incidence in Scotland. Based on the identification of the wave peaks for COVID-19 cases between 2020 and 2021, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Scotland can be divided into four phases. To model the COVID-19 incidence, sixteen neighborhood factors are chosen as the predictors. Geographical random forest models are used to examine spatiotemporal variation in major determinants of COVID-19 incidence. The spatial analysis indicates that proportion of religious people is the most strongly associated with COVID-19 incidence in southern Scotland, whereas particulate matter is the most strongly associated with COVID-19 incidence in northern Scotland. Also, crowded households, prepandemic emergency admission rates, and health and social workers are the most strongly associated with COVID-19 incidence in eastern and central Scotland, respectively. A possible explanation is that the association between predictors and COVID-19 incidence might be influenced by local context (e.g., people's lifestyles), which is spatially variant across Scotland. The temporal analysis indicates that dominant factors associated with COVID-19 incidence also vary across different phases, suggesting that pandemic-related policy should take spatiotemporal variations into account. © 2023 by American Association of Geographers.

Developing an aid for virtual clinics for education and identification of lipohypertrophy during the Covid-19 pandemic: Diabetesclinic@ home

Aims/objectives: To develop an app to support virtual diabetes clinics to help people with diabetes to check themselves for lipos and to discuss what they found during the virtual consultation. Method(s): Collaborative project between clinical teams and medical illustrators in Swansea Bay University Health Board, academics in Swansea University and Eli Lilly under a Collaborative Working Agreement. The teams worked together to develop the content, animations, and a learning technologist developed progressive web app (PWA). The app was tested by diabetes patient groups in Wales, as well as HCP groups, Welsh Academy for Nurses in Diabetes (WAND) and Diabetes Specialist Nurses (DSN) forum prior to launch in June 2021. Result(s): Between 28th June 2021 and 11th November 2022 the app had 827 unique users and 124 returning users. Users came from 15 different countries including UK, Australia, USA, Germany, Brazil and Saudi Arabia. The proportion of UK users were 480 (60%) England, 265 (34%) Wales, and 19 (2%) Scotland. A total of 41 users completed the feedback form;of those 11 (27%) did not know about lipos prior to using the app, 11 (27%) found a lipo using the app, 14 (34%) said they made changes to injection technique after using the app and 37 (90%) said their knowledge of lipos increased following using the app. Conclusion(s): A PWA can help to aid virtual clinics an provide education for people with diabetes. The diabetesclinic@ home app improved knowledge and detection of lipos and improved injection technique.

Adapting Regulations Post-Brexit

The UK government is taking advantage of the new regulatory flexibility, afforded by Brexit, to boost the country's competitiveness in pharma On 1 Jan. 2021, the United Kingdom formally left the European Union to become a third country and no longer a member of the Union's single market and customs union. The UK has, for example, decided to draw up its own version of the EU chemicals legislation-called REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals)-which sets technical standards for chemical ingredients for medicines (1). Because the UK is a separate legal entity-a third country-the UK's excipient producers and their raw material suppliers have started to be concerned about procedures like customs declarations and rules of origin. [...]by 18 Feb. 2021 the UK had vaccinated 26% of its population versus 8% in Denmark-the leading EU country for vaccines availability-6% in Germany, and 5% in France (6). NICE needs to change Industry believes that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the government's health technology assessment (HTA) body, is being too restrictive with its evaluation of digitalization products, which ultimately sets the price paid by the government for them (9).

Hospital-acquired Covid-19 infection in those with diabetes in Scotland

Aims: We wish to evaluate what proportion of hospitalised Covid-19 among those with diabetes was acquired during hospital admission. Method(s): Using the Scottish Care Information -Diabetes patient record, we linked RT-PCR test results through a study window from 01/01/2020 to 08/08/2021 to hospital discharge data. We defined nosocomial Covid-19 infection as having a first positive RT-PCR test in a window from 5 days post-admission to the admission end date. Result(s): From 127,477 people with at least one hospital admission in the study window, there were 4070 (3.2%) who tested positive with an RT-PCR test. Of those who tested positive, 1674 (41%) met the nosocomial infection definition. We found that nosocomial infection was more likely in females (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.14, 1.47 p < 0.01). The risk also increased with each year of age (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.02, 1.03 p < 0.01), with those over 60 being twice as likely to acquire Covid-19 in hospital than their younger counterparts. We found that diabetes type was not significantly related to hospital-acquired infection (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.76, 1.29 p = 0.95). Conclusion(s): These results show that almost half of all hospitalisations with Covid-19 in those with diabetes were hospital-acquired. This emphasises the importance of nosocomial infection and its prevention in the impact of the pandemic on the population with diabetes.

Mental, physical, and cognitive wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: Data from Scotland and Japan

We present data from two studies examining how COVID-19 restrictions affected health behaviours (alcohol consumption, diet, sleep quality, and physical activity levels), mental wellbeing (negative mood) and cognitive function (decision making, attention, learning, working memory, and time perception) in association with sociodemographic factors. Study 1 assessed participants in Scotland and presents cognitive function data for five timepoints. Study 2 is transnational, assessing participants in Scotland and Japan. Data are stored as CSV files. Reuse may involve examining further effects of pandemic enforced social isolation or serve as baseline data when assessing social isolation in expeditions or ageing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

England's health policy response to covid-19

Government prioritised the NHS but was slow to protect social care

Who is More Likely (Not) to Make Home-Based Work Trips During the COVID-19 Pandemic? The Case of Scotland

In this study, we used survey data (n = 6,000) to investigate the work trip patterns of Scottish residents at various points of the COVID-19 pandemic. We focused specifically on the reported patterns of weekly work trips made during the government-enforced lockdown and subsequent phases of restriction easing. This was of particular importance given the widespread changes in work trips prompted by COVID-19, including a significant rise in telecommuting and a reduction in public transport commuting trips. The survey data showed that the vast majority of respondents (;85%) made no work trips during lockdown, dropping to;77% following the easing of some work-related restrictions. Zero-inflated hierarchical ordered probit models were estimated to determine the sociodemographic and behavioral factors affecting the frequency of work trips made during three distinct periods. The model estimation results showed that the socioeconomic characteristics of respondents influenced work trips made throughout the pandemic. In particular, respondents in households whose main income earner was employed in a managerial/professional occupation were significantly more likely to make no work trips at all stages of the pandemic. Those with a health problem or disability were also significantly more likely to make no work trips throughout the pandemic. Other interesting findings concern respondents' gender, as males were more likely to complete frequent work trips than females throughout the pandemic, and differences between densely populated areas and the rest of Scotland, as respondents from a large city (Edinburgh or Glasgow) were significantly more likely to make frequent work trips as restrictions were eased. © National Academy of Sciences: Transportation Research Board 2021.

Ethnic and gender trends at the annual British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) meeting: A review of BAUS programmes over a 13-year period (2009-2021)

Objective: In this paper, we wanted to review the annual British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) programme to analyse the female and ethnic minority (EM) representation and find out whether there is ethnic and gender disparity, and if it does reflect the reality of the workforce. Method(s): To investigate gender and EM representation, we requested data for BAUS annual meetings over a 13-year period (2009-2021). All speakers and chairpersons for all four sub-sections including Endourology, Oncology, Andrology and Female, Neurological and Urodynamic urology (FNUU) were collated. We also looked at the geographic distribution of the speakers (London area, rest of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales). Data were analysed separately before and after the COVID-19 pandemic (cut-off March 2020), as in the latter 2 years, the meeting was held virtually. Result(s): A total of 2569 speakers (range: 135-323 speakers/year) were included in our analysis and 2187 (85%) speakers were from the United Kingdom. Of the UK speakers, more than three-quarters (76.6%, n = 1676) were males and females of White ethnicity and (23.4%, n = 511) were EM. The vast majority of speakers throughout the years were males (86%, n = 1891) with only 14% (n = 296) females regardless of their origin and ethnicity. The presence of EM females was only 1.9% (n = 43). The percentage of female representation rose consistently over time from 6.7% (n = 8) in 2009 to 21.1% (n = 44) in 2020, suggesting an upward trend. Regional distribution showed 31%, 63%, 3.6%, 1.6% and 0.2% from London, Rest of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively. Both gender and EM representation doubled in the last 2 years during the pandemic (p < 0.001). Conclusion(s): Annual BAUS meetings have seen a higher proportion of ethnic and gender representation in recent years. However, considering the workforce within urology, more needs to be done to address this historical disparity. Hopefully, the BAUS 10-point programme will provide a framework for addressing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion issues related to this bias. Level of Evidence: Not applicable.Copyright © British Association of Urological Surgeons 2022.

Cultures of Play: Actors, Affordances and Arenas

The principles of EECERA focus on providing a relevant and rigorous academic forum in Europe;facilitating collaboration and cooperation between European researchers and other researchers around the world;encouraging clear articulation and communication links between research, practice, and policy;and offering interaction, development, and support to those interested in early childhood education. The conference aimed to answer the following questions: * In what ways do cultures shape play in early childhood across time and space? * How is play sculpted by its actors, affordances, and arenas? * In light of the recent global pandemic and other disruptions to daily life, how does play feature in research, teaching, and experience? In addition to these thought-provoking keynote addresses, researchers and practitioners engaged in special interest group presentations in the following areas: birth to three, children from refugee or migrant backgrounds, digital childhoods, multimodality and STEM, disability studies and inclusive education in the early years, gender balance, holistic wellbeing, mathematics birth to 8 years, multilingual childhoods, outdoor play and learning, participatory pedagogy and praxeological research, professionalism in early childhood education and care, rethinking play, sustainability in early childhood education, transforming assessment evaluation and documentation in early childhood pedagogy, transitions, working with parents and families, and young children's perspectives.

Emotional reflexivity in the time of COVID-19: working-class emotional practices

We share findings from a qualitative study on emotions in Scottish working-class households during lockdown. The results challenge existing research focused on emotional capital, which often suggests that working-class people struggle to provide emotional resources to those close to them. Using the concept of emotional reflexivity we show how these household members cared for each other's feelings, challenging deficit views of working-class emotionality. This research offers a novel understanding of working-class participants collaboratively making space for each other to feel, many favouring acts of care rather than talking. The COVID-19 lockdown, however, tended to reinforce gendered practices of emotion work, although some participants drew on emotional support beyond the household to try to mitigate this burden. The emotionally reflexive practices seen in these households suggest that sustaining more equality in emotional wellbeing relies on navigating material circumstances, is not always about verbal sharing, is often an interactional achievement, but also means resisting unrealistic expectations of intimate relationships within households as the fountainhead of all emotional succour.

Sport (Tourism and) Heritage, Undergraduate Sport Management Degrees, and Remote Teaching: A View From Scotland

This essay examines the creation of a new undergraduate module on sport, tourism and heritage, at The University of Edinburgh, one based within the confines of a bachelor's program in sport management. The author emphasizes that this is part of a growing trend toward integrating heritage (alongside history) into Scottish/U.K. sport management academia, as something which can potentially address skills and employability outcomes while still offering the opportunity to critically discuss issues in the sport industry. The creation, running, format, and content of this module is discussed, within the context of its first being offered remotely in September 2020 in between "lockdowns" during the COVID-19 pandemic.

October 2022 to January 2023

In the June to September report, I noted that Boris Johnson had announced his resignation as leader of the Conservative Party on 7 July and had been replaced as Prime Minister by Liz Truss on 6 September. Little did anyone imagine that she, in turn, would be replaced by Rishi Sunak on 25 October after only 50 days in office and a disastrous mini budget presented by her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, which Sunak's replacement as Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, then repudiated almost in its entirety.

A resilience analysis of the contraction of the accommodation and food service sector on the Scottish food industry

The Scottish economy, such as the United Kingdom (UK) economy, has been exposed to several adverse shocks over the past 5 years. Examples of these are the effect of the United Kingdom exiting the European Union (Brexit), the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and more recently Russia–Ukraine war, which can result in adverse direct and indirect economic losses across various sectors of the economy. These shocks disrupted the food and drink supply chains. The purpose of this article is 3-fold: (1) to explore the degree of resilience of the Scottish food and drink sector, (2) to estimate the effects on interconnected sectors of the economy, and (3) to estimate the economic losses, which is the financial value associated with the reduction in output. This article focuses on the impact that the sudden contraction that the "accommodation and food service activities”, resulting from the pandemic, had on the food and drink sectors. For this analysis, the study relied on the dynamic inoperability input–output model (DIIM), which takes into account the relationships across the different sectors of the Scottish economy over time. The results indicate that the accommodation and food service sector was the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown contracting by approximately 60%. The DIIM shows that the disruption to this sector had a cascading effect on the remaining 17 sectors of the economy. The processed and preserved fish, fruits, and vegetable sector is the least resilient, while preserved meat and meat product sector is the most resilient to the final demand disruption in the accommodation and food service sector. The least economically affected sector was the other food product sector, while the other service sector had the highest economic loss. Although the soft drink sector had a slow recovery rate, economic losses were lower compared to the agricultural, fishery, and forestry sectors. From the policy perspective, stakeholders in the accommodation and food service sector should re-examine the sector and develop capacity against future pandemics. In addition, it is important for economic sectors to collaborate either vertically or horizontally by sharing information and risk to reduce the burden of future disruptions. Finally, the most vulnerable sectors of the economy, i.e., other service sectors should form a major part of government policy decision-making when planning against future pandemics. Copyright © 2023 Revoredo-Giha and Dogbe.

Evaluating the feasibility of delivering a sleep education programme in secondary schools

Background: School-based sleep education programmes can promote the importance of sleep health and may improve adolescent sleep. To date, only limited research has examined the feasibility of integrating sleep programmes into the school curriculum. Objectives: This study evaluated the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of the Strathclyde intervention to encourage good sleep health in teenagers (SIESTA). Methods: A total 171 students (12–15 years, 53% women) from secondary schools in Scotland participated in the study. Recruitment and retention, data collection and design procedures were assessed to establish feasibility. Qualitative feedback on acceptability was collected via focus group discussions. Outcome measures assessing insomnia symptoms, sleep hygiene, depression, anxiety and stress were completed at baseline and post-intervention to explore the preliminary effects of SIESTA. Results: All schools that were approached consented to participate, and most students completed assessments at both time points (171) with a dropout rate of 5%. Assessment measures provided sufficient data to compare baseline and post-intervention values. Training and delivery manuals ensured successful delivery of the programme. Qualitative feedback indicated SIESTA was acceptable, and students spoke favourably about the content, delivery and techniques. Students reported that SIESTA was age-appropriate, relevant and the techniques were beneficial. There were significant improvements in insomnia and stress, but no improvements were noted for sleep hygiene, depression or anxiety. Conclusion: The findings suggest that SIESTA is feasible and acceptable for delivery via the school curriculum. The results indicate that a controlled trial is required to further investigate the efficacy of SIESTA implemented in an educational context.

Aversion amplification in the emerging COVID-19 pandemic: The impact of political trust and subjective uncertainty on perceived threat

Health psychology shows that responses to risk and threat depend on perceptions as much as objective factors. The present study focuses on the precursors of perceived threat of COVID-19. We draw on political and social psychology and use the aversion amplification hypothesis to propose that subjective uncertainty and political trust should interactively impact perceived threat. We conducted a cross-sectional survey amongst the general population of Scotland (N = 188) in the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. We hypothesised that high political trust should ameliorate the threat-elevating impact of uncertainty, thereby reducing the perceived threat from a high to moderate level. This hypothesis was supported, even after accounting for demographic differences. The discussion addresses the implications of the interactive role of trust and uncertainty for strategies to manage public behaviour as the pandemic progresses. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Policy actors' perceptions of public participation to tackle health inequalities in Scotland: a paradox?

BACKGROUND: Health inequalities are persistent and widening with transformative policy change needed. Radically shifting policy to tackle upstream causes of inequalities is likely to require public participation to provide a mandate, evidence and to address questions of co-design, implementation and acceptability. The aim of this paper is to explore perceptions among policy actors on why and how the public should be involved in policymaking for health inequalities. METHODS: In 2019-2020, we conducted exploratory, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 21 Scottish policy actors from a range of public sector bodies and agencies and third sector organisations that work in, or across, health and non-health sectors. Data were analysed thematically and used to examine implications for the development of participatory policymaking. RESULTS: Policy actors viewed public participation in policymaking as intrinsically valuable for democratic reasons, but the main, and more challenging, concern was with how it could affect positive policy change. Participation was seen as instrumental in two overlapping ways: as evidence to improve policies to tackle health inequalities and to achieve public acceptance for implementing more transformative policies. However, our analysis suggests a paradox: whilst policy actors place importance on the instrumental value of public participation, they simultaneously believe the public hold views about health inequalities that would prevent transformative change. Finally, despite broad agreement on the need to improve public participation in policy development, policy actors were uncertain about how to make the necessary changes due to conceptual, methodological and practical challenges. CONCLUSIONS: Policy actors believe in the importance of public participation in policy to address health inequalities for intrinsic and instrumental reasons. Yet, there is an evident tension between seeing public participation as a route to upstream policies and a belief that public views might be misinformed, individualistic, short-term or self-interested and doubts about how to make public participation meaningful. We lack good insight into what the public think about policy solutions to health inequalities. We propose that research needs to shift from describing the problem to focusing more on potential solutions and outline a potential way forward to undertake effective public participation to tackle health inequalities.

Scotland's alcohol crisis: A clinician's perspective on a public health emergency.

Worldwide, alcohol causes a death every 10 seconds. The harmful effects are much wider in terms of impaired health and wellbeing of those affected and their families, particularly the most disadvantaged. The wider societal impact and financial costs are huge. Scotland, which has a particularly unhealthy relationship with alcohol and where the cost of alcohol harm is estimated at £3.6 billion, has introduced innovative public health measures such as minimum unit pricing (MUP). However, the COVID-19 pandemic has seen the death toll rising. This article examines the history of alcohol harm and policy interventions in Scotland in recent decades. The lessons learned provide a range of measures of proven efficacy that clinicians and government should employ to tackle Scotland's on-going alcohol crisis, and should be of interest to clinicians and policy makers everywhere.

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on surgical services in a Scottish remote and rural setting.

INTRODUCTION: The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought about instability in healthcare providers worldwide; this includes rural settings that had fewer cases of COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic. This article examines the impact of COVID-19 on the surgical services offered at the Balfour Hospital, Orkney Islands, Scotland in the UK and the impact the pandemic had indirectly on the service in 2020. METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective study concentrating on surgical services including emergency hospital presentations and the number of cancer diagnoses, specifically colorectal. Colorectal malignancies were specifically investigated as in the Balfour Hospital they are primarily diagnosed by surgeons. Focus was on diagnosis and outcomes between June 2020 and October 2020, in comparison with the previous year. This time period was chosen because surgical services reconvened after a period of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The types of emergency admission into the Balfour Hospital during this time were examined, as well as delayed surgeries and the impact of delaying surgery. RESULTS: The data show that, although the prevalence of cancers diagnosed was static, patients presented at a much later stage, with significant impact on prognosis and quality of life. Aside from cancer diagnosis, non-urgent work was significantly disrupted due to the pandemic in 2020. The average waiting time for non-urgent clinic consultation increased from 6 weeks to 18 weeks during this period. The number of patients awaiting endoscopic investigations increased threefold. There was also an increase in the number of emergency admissions due to complications of disease. CONCLUSION: Although the effects of COVID-19 have been felt nationwide, the impact is more exaggerated in rural communities such as Orkney due to the small population. It is likely the indirect impact on surgical morbidity and mortality in Orkney in 2020 was disproportionately higher than the impact of COVID-19 in the local community. Furthermore, due to limited island resources, a significant number of patients required transfer to tertiary centres for management of complications. This is a unique issue affecting rural communities.

COVID-19 conspiracy theories and compliance with governmental restrictions: The mediating roles of anger, anxiety, and hope

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an ideal breeding ground for conspiracy theories. Yet, different beliefs could have different implications for individuals' emotional responses, which in turn could relate to different behaviours and specifically to either a greater or lesser compliance with social distancing and health-protective measures. In the present research, we investigated the links between COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, emotions (anger, anxiety, and hope), attitudes towards government restrictions, and self-reported compliant behaviour. Results of a cross-sectional survey amongst a large UK sample (N = 1,579) provided support for the hypothesis that COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs showed a polarizing relationship with compliant behaviour through opposing emotional pathways. The relation was mediated by higher levels of anger, themselves related to a lesser perceived importance of government restrictions, and simultaneous higher levels of anxiety, related to a greater perceived importance. Hope was also related to conspiracy beliefs and to greater perceived importance but played a weaker role in the mediational model. Results suggest that the behavioural correlates of conspiracy beliefs might not be straightforward, and highlight the importance of considering the emotional states such beliefs might elicit when investigating their potential impact. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

An evolving engagement programme for patients with photodermatoses

We previously reported on our experience of an in-person Scottish Photobiology Service (SPS) patient engagement event in 2019 and of its utility in defining what matters to patients with photosensitivity. We identified key issues with delays in referral from primary care, lack of availability of peer support and a need for disease-specific information to raise awareness of photosensitivity for family and employers. Through a follow- up workshop, we identified a workstream of activities planning to address these issues, which were modified by the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic. However, we successfully moved our programme to a virtual platform, and we report on our progress. Twice-yearly virtual TEAMS patient engagement half-day events, attended by patients and staff, provided patients with a forum to discuss with each other issues that they have identified as being important to them. These ranged from the isolation, anxiety and embarrassment associated with photosensitivity, dealing with friends who do not understand their condition, through to coping mechanisms and practicalities, such as sourcing sun protective clothing, dealing with sports activities and photoprotective measures in schools. The virtual events have received extremely positive feedback both in terms of content and utility for patients, as well as the convenience of the virtual format. To supplement these activities, we have also distributed twice-yearly SPS newsletters since 2020, initiated at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure our patients knew we were there for them, despite the challenges of the pandemic and, again, this was most positively received. Regarding delays in referral from primary care, patient feedback indicated that this was mainly due to not being taken seriously, possibly due to a lack of understanding of photosensitivity in community care. We are addressing this by developing a 'photosensitivity red flag' poster for distribution throughout primary care in Scotland to raise awareness of the symptoms to look out for in photosensitivity conditions. Finally, we have also embarked on creating a series of diseasespecific podcasts. These involve an informal discussion between a patient with photosensitivity and a consultant photodermatologist, with a mediator present, to raise awareness of the true impact of a range of photodermatoses on many aspects of life. We demonstrate this ongoing programme of diverse patient engagement and educational activities in photodermatology, to highlight the model of a multifaceted hybrid approach to provide additional support for patients with photodermatoses. Acknowledgments: we wish to acknowledge all our SPS patients, their families and staff for their invaluable contributions.